So when we started out looking to create a mobile application for Socious, we were told that it was too early. That people will think it is nice to have, but no one will use it. There are some features that people want because they see them on Facebook or other sites, that for associations, probably won't get a lot of use. Mobile, though, is not one of them.

With mobile, we are talking about a fundamental shift of how people access the internet. Forget, blogs, forums and wikis-this is much bigger. This reminds me of the days when people were hemming and hawing about if they should have a web page. It was a fundamental shift of how people accessed information. Instead of print media, more and more people accessed the information they wanted via the internet. If you were not there, you were left out. Mobile is similar, the functionality of smart phones these days is pretty amazing. People are doing more and more on their phones because they can. If I have an idle minute and want to look up a product I am interested in, I will use my phone to find it. If I hit a site that doesn't give me a good mobile experience, I move to the first one that does. Your members are the same way. Having a good mobile strategy is, and will be more and more each coming year, as important as having a website was 12-15 years ago.

Hey, don't take my word for it. I recently did a post on how experts believe that more people will access the internet via a mobile device than a desktop within 5 years. But there is more. Here is an report from a recent mobile usage survey. This report is based on the findings of a daily tracking survey on Americans’ use of the Internet. The results in this report are based on data from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International between April 29 and May 30, 2010, among a sample of 2,252 adults, age 18 and older. that shows what people are doing on their mobile phones:

"Cell phone and wireless laptop internet use have each grown more prevalent over the last year. Nearly half of all adults (47%) go online with a laptop using a Wi-Fi connection or mobile broadband card (up from the 39% who did so as of April 2009) while 40% of adults use the internet, email or instant messaging on a mobile phone (up from the 32% of Americans who did this in 2009). This means that 59% of adults now access the internet wirelessly using a laptop or cell phone—that is, they answered “yes” to at least one of these wireless access pathways. That adds up to an increase from the 51% who used a laptop or cell phone wirelessly in April 2009.

The use of non-voice data applications on cell phones has grown dramatically over the last year. Compared with a similar point in 2009, cell phone owners are now more likely to use their mobile phones to:

• Take pictures—76% now do this, up from 66% in April 2009
• Send or receive text messages—72% vs. 65%
• Access the internet—38% vs. 25%
• Play games—34% vs. 27%
• Send or receive email—34% vs. 25%
• Record a video—34% vs. 19%
• Play music—33% vs. 21%
• Send or receive instant messages—30% vs. 20%"

"Young adults (those ages 18-29) are also avid users of mobile data applications, but older adults are gaining fast. Compared with 2009, cell phone owners ages 30-49 are significantly more likely to use their mobile device to send text messages, access the internet, take pictures, record videos, use email or instant messaging, and play music."

So where does this leave associations? Well, much like when it was time to create a social media strategy, it is time to create a mobile strategy as well. However, we can help. Socious recently came out with a full featured mobile application that is directly linked to our online community software. It is the most feature rich mobile application for associations-period. Take a look. Mobile is coming, no matter if you like it or not, no matter is you 'get it' or not. However, it is a great opportunity to engage your members like never before-so answer the call, it is for you.